Judge Denies Request to Shutter Apartment Building

A Bremerton apartment building with a reputation for hard partying will be allowed to remain open until a trial later this summer, a judge ruled Friday.

The city is attempting to have the Olympic Terrace apartments at 1215 Gregory Way boarded up, fenced off and shut down for a year. But first, attorneys want it shut down in advance of a trial, likely to take place in August or September.

Neighbors, a couple tenants and police had complained about rampant hard drug use and dealing, and accompanying crimes. In court documents, police counted 215 calls to 911 during a two-year period, with more than 20 directly related to drug activity.

In preparing for a trial to prove the property is a nuisance, Assistant City Attorney Mark Koontz asked a Kitsap County Superior Court judge to grant the injunction and shut the building down as of July 1. The trial will determine if owner Larry Schwoch knew drug activity was rampant at the building and what he did — or did not do — to stop it.

Judge Russell Hartman ruled Friday that instead of shuttering the 12-unit building, which is just around the corner from Bremerton Police headquarters, Schwoch will have to comply with a list of conditions, including installing security cameras and checking the criminal history of tenants.

Koontz said he was disappointed with the ruling.

"It was certainly less than what we were seeking," he said.

"At least it's still open," said Schwoch's attorney, Dan Austad. At a previous hearing, Austad said that if the injunction were granted and the building was closed, the case would virtually be over.

Schwoch said he has four empty units at the building and is hesitant to rent them while the city is trying to have the building ruled a drug nuisance.

"I've evicted everybody that caused a problem," he said.

Hartman said he wouldn't grant the city's motion to have the building shut down in advance of the trial because of conflicting accounts, with Schwoch saying that he took action whenever contacted by the police. The police alleged Schwoch was indifferent to complaints from neighbors and reports of hard drug-dealing.

Instead of shuttering the building, Hartman detailed a list of conditions Schwoch is to follow. They include cutting tree limbs shading the property, posting a sign informing tenants they can be evicted for using illegal drugs on the premises, and receiving "real time" e-mail updates from police about drug activity.

Also, Schwoch was told he should attend neighborhood watch meetings.

Koontz said that could lead to some awkward, if not unpleasant, encounters. Neighborhood watch meetings are often held in the homes of neighbors, who are upset with Schwoch for the behavior of some of his tenants.